Police, suspected IPOB members clash in Imo, one dies

One person was killed and weapons recovered from a six-man terror gang that attacked a police patrol team in Orlu, Imo State.

The police also recovered one AK-47 rifle, two pump action guns, rounds of ammunition and stolen Sienna vehicle used by the hoodlums said to be members of the Eastern Security Network, the armed group of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Mike Abattam, said this in a statement in Owerri on Friday.

He said, “On October 27, 2022, around 9am, luck ran against a six-man terror gang, suspected to be IPOB members and its armed affiliate, Eastern Security Network, who came in a Sienna vehicle with number plate, ABUJA-GWA 932 CQ, and attacked the police operatives while they were conducting stop-and-search duty along UBA roundabout Orlu, Imo State.

“The hoodlums who came prepared, shot sporadically at the police operatives, but were shocked by the alertness and dexterity displayed by the gallant police operatives who responded swiftly.

“In the gun duel that ensued, the hoodlums were overwhelmed by the superior fire power of the police and in the process one of the hoodlums was neutralised while others escaped into bushes with fatal bullet injuries. They abandoned their vehicle, one AK-47 rifle with 15 rounds of live ammunition, two English made pump-action guns with 10 rounds of live cartridges and charms.

“All the abandoned items were recovered by the police. While the corpse was later removed from the scene and deposited at a nearby mortuary.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that, the Sienna vehicle used by the terror gang was snatched from its owner in Amurie Omanze in the Isu Local Government Area of Imo State and it was reported at Njaba Police Station.

“The owner has been contacted to come with proof of ownership for the collection of his vehicle, while the command’s tactical teams are working to arrest the fleeing suspects.”